Article on Enbridge Pipelines and Lawsuit Against Judge Botsford in North Dakota

Here.

[James] Botsford, a North Dakota farm owner, learned that in September 2013, when Enbridge informed him that the company was seeking a temporary restraining order against him. Botsford, who is also an attorney and a Supreme Court judge for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, had tried to prevent Enbridge from surveying his land for the Sandpiper’s possible route. Botsford, who strongly opposes the pipeline’s construction, believed that the survey would be “the camel’s nose under the tent.” He attempted to refuse the company access to his farm.

“To that, they basically said, ‘We’re Enbridge, we don’t go around anything, we go through it,’ ” says Botsford.

Enbridge got its restraining order, forcing Botsford to allow the company to complete the survey. The pipeline’s route, Botsford believes, was “basically already a done deal,” and he soon heard from the company again. This time, Enbridge wanted Botsford to grant him an  easement—a legal right to use another’s property for a specific purpose, in this case the construction and maintenance of a pipeline. After Botsford refused, twice, to sign an easement agreement, the company filed a civil suit against him in June.

Gofundme link to the Botsford defense here.

2 thoughts on “Article on Enbridge Pipelines and Lawsuit Against Judge Botsford in North Dakota

  1. James Botsford August 2, 2015 / 9:24 pm

    Hi to all readers,
    I am James Botsford and the subject of this article of a fight against Enbridge Pipeline in their efforts to take the land of my wife and I for their proposed Sandpiper line. I want to correct something in this article that was a typo. The article begins by referring to me as John Botsford. That is wrong. He is my brother but the land in question and the positions taken are those of me and my wife Krista. They should not be associated with my brother John. Not sure how this error occurred but sorry for any confusions.
    James Botsford

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